Circus Circus at the top of the list.
Casinos and the resorts that accompany them are supposed to be places of joy and entertainment. But there are some casinos that most people dread entering, and no matter where you're going, there seems to be a bad apple in every city.
These are the resorts that are years overdue for a makeover, poorly located, and rife with clientele that you wouldn't want to run across in a dark alley. Next time you're traveling to a casino resort, you may want to steer clear of these properties.
Casinos no one wants to visit in Las Vegas
If you've ever been to the Las Vegas Strip, you know that there's a stark difference between high-end resorts and those catering to budget-conscious consumers. Budget casinos are older, smaller, more run down, and usually in less than ideal locations on The Strip.
No casino in Las Vegas epitomizes those negatives more than Circus Circus, MGM Resorts' (NYSE: MGM ) worst performing resort and the most hated property on the Las Vegas Strip. 411 out of 1,174 reviewers on Yelp gave the property a 1-star review.
Complaints ranged from terrible food to inadequate service, but one theme stands out at Circus Circus: too many children. The last thing you want to see in a casino is kids running and screaming, but on the Las Vegas Strip, this is the go-to resort for families, which makes it a hated casino for almost everyone else.
Downtown Las Vegas has had a renaissance in recent years, but not all casinos have kept up. Image: Jean-Christophe Benoist via Wikimedia.
Treasure Island, Excalibur, and Hard Rock are also poorly rated casinos that should at least be looked at with a wary eye when you travel, but in Las Vegas, Circus Circus takes the cake as the most hated property on The Strip.
If you're heading to downtown Las Vegas, the casino you'll want to avoid is the Las Vegas Club, which has 38 1-star reviews out of 97 total reviews. Christian O. recently gave a review that may have described the resort best: "If depression were captured in a build, the current LV Club would capture it perfectly." While neighboring resorts like the Plaza Hotel and Casino and the Golden Nugget are renovating to capture customers wanting to visit downtown again, the Las Vegas Club continues to get more run-down.
Beware of these casinos around the country
In Reno, half of the Yelp reviews for the Ramada Hotel and Casino are 1- or 2-stars, and Caesars Entertainment's (NASDAQ: CZR ) Harrah's Reno isn't too far behind. Reno and its neighboring Carson City aren't exactly highly rated in the gaming world, and their resorts are starting to age, but these two properties would be the last on my list to stay at.
In Atlantic City, four of the city's twelve resorts have closed in the last year, and the ones left standing aren't exactly doing well either. Tropicana Casino & Resort and Trump Taj Mahal both have far more 1- and 2-star reviews on Yelp than 4- and 5-star reviews, but the worst property has to be Bally's Atlantic City. The resort, another from Caesars Entertainment, gets an average rating of 2.5 stars on Yelp and 175 of 344 reviews give it 1 or 2 stars.
When traveling to casinos around the country, these are the ones I would avoid.
Sometimes you don't even get what you pay for
It's true in most hotels and certainly in casinos that you get what you pay for. But even budget travelers should avoid these casinos -- their reviews are horrible, and better options are at worst just down the block.
Next time you go to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, or wherever you like to gamble, be sure to check out the reviews. You wouldn't want to stay at any of the most hated casinos in America.
